“No matter how cool [Apple’s iPhone] exchange support and the enterprise play is, that news is dwarfed by the other, much more important announcement – the iPhone SDK. The powerful platform that Apple uses to create beautiful applications for MacOS and iPhone is now completely open,” Alex Iskold writes for ReadWriteWeb. “This platform is a game changer.”
“Since the early days, Apple embraced a language called Objective-C – an object-oriented flavor of the popular procedural language. When Jobs returned to Apple, one of the early smart decisions was to ditch the old operating system in favor of Unix,” Iskold writes.
MacDailyNews Take: Actually, that’s why Apple bought Steve Jobs’ NeXT; for the Unix-based OS. So, the decision actually predates Jobs’ return, although, obviously, it was Jobs who somehow convinced dumbass Gil Amelio to do something completely different for once and actually make a smart decision.
Iskold continues, “This move allowed Apple to instantly tap into serious programmers while retaining a beautiful and simple UI… Smart, disciplined and mature.”
“Not all platforms are made equal,” Iskold writes. “First compare this offering with what Microsoft offered for Windows a while back. Redmond’s convoluted APIs, COM, OLE, and ActiveX still make developers shake their heads. Instead of cultivating elegance and simplicity, Microsoft pushed for complexity. Why? Because it kept exclusivity, kept people learning new weird stuff, kept people getting new certifications. But Apple’s culture and code is rooted in elegance and extreme simplicity.”
Iskold writes, “Apple has made this play flawlessly. The enterprise and SDK solutions will go hand-in-hand to propel the iPhone to be THE handheld device of the future. Ironically, the PC just got its final blow not from a MacBook (which has been on the rise too!), but from a small new computer. Apple got its revenge elegantly, relentlessly and creatively. The next era of computing will be dominated by Apple. Is this a good thing? Likely yes, and it is surely better than one dominated by Microsoft.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “since1985” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: “Why would he do that? He has to know that he can never win.” – Bill Gates on Steve Jobs’ return to Apple, as told to Robert X. Cringely during an unpublished 1999 interview for Vanity Fair.
Steve wins, game over!
Game’s not over till the fat ‘old lady’ (Balmer) swings.
it sure looks like Apple has won, and in this era they have in personal computing.
But I still feel something biting my hair, when it comes to the lack of competition.
I have a gut feeling that acer, asus, hp/compaq are getting together to create a new operating system that is seperated from Microsoft. Is it really that hard? Not really, they have so much cash, and theres so many Software engineering students whom have completed courses in OS … but end up twiddling their fingers with fixing up bugs from a website written in Java, and being paid penuts.
I’d probably bet on HP doing it first.
> Redmond’s convoluted APIs, COM, OLE, and ActiveX still make developers shake their heads
It even makes the heads of the people who created the crap in the first place spin.
I think that, more than competting with Microsoft, Apple competes with itself.
To compete with others leads to be barely better than competition. Compete with oneself leads to be better every day in every way compared with oneself, so it pushes up always.
Apple: Good fruit company
Microsoft: Shit happens
And that’s all I have to say about that.
MDN, how do you find this nonsense? This guy is obviously blogging from a psych ward in Cupertino. 97.5% of the world’s computer users remain super-passionate about using Windows and for good reason. Developers have been generating fantastic software built around Microsoft’s meticulous, friendly and open tools. Who’s gonna write software for the 2.5% of proprietary expensive computers out there?
Microsoft won, Apple lost. Now we can move on to how the Zune will destroy the I-Pod.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Lieutenant Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company. So then I got a call from him, saying we don’t have to worry about money no more. And I said, that’s good! One less thing.
@bioness,
Does that mean we’re going back to the days of Radio Shack computers, and every maker doing their own OS?
My gut feeling is, if there are any new desktop OSes, they’ll be from China. Both as an attempt to prove their coding prowess, and to separate themselves from the American-headed systems.
That’s it man, game over man, Ballmer’s fscked!
Compete with oneself leads to be better every day in every way compared with oneself, so it pushes up always.
Not always. Look at some select automakers for a case in point.
Bad the notion you just gotta deploy the same vehicle, as several models across several brands, into the same competing market segment. Oh, then offer deep incentives to move these vehicles. WTF?!? It’s like Apple from the Performa/Centris/Quadra days.
Maybe the key is to compete with yourself, while not competing against…
Haha, Bioness, you make me laugh.
Is it really that hard? YES. Yes it is.
Well, now. A little game-changing platform that’s really OS X at its core. Maybe corporations will finally get it that IT droids don’t know best. Users can find the best tools and bring them in.
The only way Apple doesn’t win is if Apple quits. If another company doesn’t build the whole widget there can not be competition with Apple.
In order to respond to an Apple innovation, all the other hardware and software companies have to get ideas out of committee, into each others’ committees, out of each others’ committees again and then start a response. While they’re winding up to throw their punch, Apple changes the game to baseball. When the others all agree on a starting pitcher, Apple will be on the green with a six-footer for birdie. By the time the rest of the industry figures out what game to get ready for, Apple will own tech.
Apple is the only company building the whole widget. If you’re the only one doing something, you have no competition. Apple has to compete with themselves. There is no one else willing to get in the game.
“I have a gut feeling that acer, asus, hp/compaq are getting together to create a new operating system that is seperated from Microsoft.” – Bioness
Apple strategy has been planned for a very very long time, and they certainly are aware of what you wrote. They have a way around it:
Apple domination will be the same as in music. Remember, as the competition is trying to catch up, Apple “is not sitting doing nothing” as was saying Oppenheimer.
By the time the competition comes with their solution, Apple will be release the second generation of iPhone and iPod Touch. Not to forget a larger version of iPod Touch that includes eBook and handwritting.
What Apple is currently doing with those portable devices is very BIG. It’s the future. And you can be sure, they won’t make the same mistakes as in the past with the Mac.
@clunker
“Maybe the key is to compete with yourself, while not competing against…”
Stupid is as stupid does.
Oops. Forgot to mention. Vista Sucks.
bioness said: “I have a gut feeling that acer, asus, hp/compaq are getting together to create a new operating system that is seperated from Microsoft. Is it really that hard?”
bioness, you need to read the whole article. The first section is entitled “It’s the libraries, stupid!” wherein the writer states “”It is not the language, but the libraries that matter. Every time I hear developers talk about a new language and say it is by far the best one, I just shake my head. A new language is not going to be usable in today’s world unless all of the libraries are in place.”
He goes on to compare Apple’s “secret sauce” as being its software, a well-oiled machine. “While others have been inventing new languages and frameworks, Apple kept perfecting and building up its code.” … “In general, over the years Apple has ignored new languages and just stuck with its platform. Smart, disciplined and mature.”
@Bioness – you kinda forget that OSX is based on BSD. That took 20 years to refine. Full blown OSes are not straight forward.
Back in 2000 when OSX beta was released, I knew then Apple had something special on their hands. Raw yes, but so much potential.
I tried to convince a Linux fan of the advantages of OSX in 2001 but he didn’t get the advantages of having a good GUI and Unix together.
The evolution of Quicktime and their apps like iTunes etc have no competition. Everyone else is literally 3 years away and have no chance of catching up because Apple can develop software at a much faster pace.
The same goes for the iPod and iPhone. The war is not over it’s just starting.
@ ron: Game’s not over till the fat ‘old lady’ (Balmer) swings.
Ballmer’s a swinger?. EEEEEeeeeeewwwww.
MDN: Great to finally hear that take. You’ve been good about always reminding us about Michael Dell’s shut-Apple-down-and-give-the-money-back-to-the-investors quote and Steve Ballmer’s iPhone-won’t-get-any-market-share-no-way quote, that I’ve been wondering if you ever iCal’ed Bill Gate’s steve-jobs-must-know-he-can-never-win quote given to Robert X. Cringely (but never published).
That quote riles me up the most and reveals so much about both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
Lately, every article I read about Apple’s success and progression in the marketplace and the rave reviews of their hardware and software, that quote is forefront in my mind. The gauntlet was thrown down by Bill … Steve Jobs seems to be good about making one eat his own words.
Apple has won the “mindshare.”
It’ll take a while longer for that to translate into market share.
The thing abut Microsoft was that users pretty much had no choice. They bought into it because it was the only game in town, and then found they were trapped by a monopoly. Apple, by contrast, is entering a field filled with competitors. If they somehow were to become the only game in town, it would be by sheer merit. It’s not as if there are no other players, and it’s not as if they don’t see Apple coming.
Zune Tang, “97.5% of the world’s computer users remain super-passionate about using Windows ” Yeah, umm Zune Tang, I don’t think that is correct. The number Windows users that are Super-Passionate is a lot smaller. Zune Tang, saying something like that you lose credibility and look foolish. I use both, I use both every single day, both systems have good points and bad, BUT, in general, I work on the windows side because I HAVE to and the Apple side because I WANT to. The Apple OS seems a lot more polished. That is just my observations, but I consider them probably more valid than any of yours because I actually USE both on a daily bases and am proficient at both.
As I have said before, Zune, if you want to play games, get a girlfriend….they play WAY more games and a lot more fun than anything you will on a computer.
@Bioness
No chance. Not one in a million. The better, and more realistic chance is that M$ adopts Linux. And if that happens then say goodbye to that platform.
Oh and to the other guy…”China”?!? You gotta be kidding, right? There’s a better chance of M$ adopting Linux than for ANY group from China producing a viable OS from SCRATCH!
LOL…absolutely nothing “original” has come out of China since the fork and gunpowder…unless you consider Copyright Infringement “original”! ’nuff said!
Zune Tang scores another victim. ZT, you are like a spider. Spinning your little webs and waiting for some unsuspecting moth to fly into it and start wriggling. Great sport, but I can’t believe you haven’t tired of it yet.